Hosts

Director(s) - Adam Leader (Dirge) and Richard Oakes (Exit Plan, White Moth Black Butterfly: Evelyn)

Starring - Neal Ward (Murder Maps, Two Graves), Nadia Lamin (Homeless Ashes, Dogged), and Frank Jakeman (Shed of the Dead, Game of Thrones)

Release Date - 2020

Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     More often than not I get in movies that I know nothing about.  Most of the time these films surprise me but I have met a few that were complete wastes of time.  It's because of this that I always go into these movies with heavy doubt.  A few days back I received the DVD for Hosts to review.  Honestly, I thought the artwork on the cover was simple but pretty cool but the title really didn't sell me on the film.  I decided not to give it a spin during my October horror binge.  Once October was over I decided to finally check it out and I feel like an idiot for sleeping on this one.  It was fucking awesome and I'm glad I was asked to check it out.  

     The film follows a family sitting down for a holiday meal and they invited their neighbors over with them to enjoy in the festivies.  However, their neighbors, a young couple, are not as innocent as they seem and start murdering the family but something far worse is lurking outside the home and people are not as they appear.

     I tossed Hosts in and after a few minutes I thought I was in for a huge time waster and then...it hit and it hit hard.  The movie struggles with finding it's own identity but delivers the carnage for those of you with an apetite for blood.  I was really surprised by how brutal the film was and really appreaciated that the film didn't try to deliver another horror by numbers flick.  The acting in this one is fucking great.  The performances were all amazing and I loved the characters.  The victims were really genuine with their emotions.  I also enjoyed the killers, or possessed, whichever you prefer.  They were emotionless for the most part but when they would smile it gave you chills.  They absolutely knocked it out of the park.  The story for this one is a very horror inspired spin on the Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Actually, with the title I can't help but find the similarities between this and the the Twilight Saga's Stephanie Meyer's The Host which follows a very similiar story.  At it's heart the film is a movie about people who become hosts to something out of this world that turn people into murderious vessels.  This is something we have seen several times before.  However, very few of these films deliver the gruesome deaths that this one does.  Which brings me to my final point.  This film is so god damn bloody.  The kills are brutal as hell and have some very impressive practical effects.  I was blown away by the kills in this film which really made this unoriginal story so much fun.  Overall, Hosts is an absolute blast.  Sure, it borrows from the story written by the same author as the Twilight Saga but the kills and amazing cast makes it worth your time.  Check it out as soon as you can!